Refrigerator



Patented May 24, 1938 ,uan

2,118,735 naroana'roa Application January 15, 1935, Serial No. 1,909

My invention relates to'the provision of means to impede in a simple and effective way the loss of cold air from domestic refrigerators, and at the same time increase rather than decrease the convenience thereof in use.

When the door of a refrigerator is opened and immediately closed again, there is not much increase of heat due to influx of outer air and efflux of cold air within the refrigerator. However, upon holding the door open for longer periods of time, this loss becomes more of a factor. What happens is that the cold air flows out from the bottom of the refrigerator, to be replaced by warm air from without flowing in at the top. 1 It is my object to impede the flowing of cold air out of the bottom of the refrigerator by means of a plate which is movable and preferably hingedly connected to the refrigerator across the lower portion thereof and inside of the door thereof. This plate willthen maintain a pool of the coldest air in the lower portion of the refrigerator where objects are kept which must be at the lowest temperature, and at the same time will make it hard for cold air to flow out of the refrigeration compartment.

It is my object, further, to make of this plate when it is opened to gain easier access to the lower portion of the refrigeratorcompartment, a tray upon which articles can be moved in order to make it. easier to select a given article by merely placing intervening articles on the said tray.

I believe, furthermore, that the presence of this plate across the lower portion of the refrigerator compartment, when the door is open, will deflect air currents from without so that there will be a reduced tendency of cold air spilling out of the compartment above the plate.

I accomplish my objects by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which an example will be specifically described and the novelty of which will be set forth in the appended claims to which reference is hereby made.

In the drawing:-

Flgure 1 is a vertical section taken centrally of a refrigerator at the compartment portion thereof.

Figure 2 is a perspective of the lower portion of a. refrigerator with the plate open.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary section along the line M of Figure 1.

Figure i is a fragmentary section along the line of Figure 1.

I have illustrated my invention in connection with a door which is constructed in accordance (c1. cz-ce) with West Reissue Patent No. 19,008, and my invention has some points in connection with such a door, which are distinctive, as well as having relation to refrigerators in general.

The refrigerator of the mechanical type,- as illustrated, has a casing i which is insulated and surrounds a compartment 2, in which compartment is located the refrigeration unit 3, having ice trays t therein. This unit is located in the upper part of the compartment so as to set up proper circulation of air therein, to maintain the entire compartment cold.

The door, as shown, has a body t, which has a hollow chamber 6 in its inner side, surrounded by a wall of insulated nature. In this hollow chamber there is arranged a rack of open wire shelves l, on which many articles can be located, for ready availability when the door is open.

-.The insulation strip or breaker" strip separating conductively the compartment lining from the outside of the box, is shown at d.

The shelves t within the refrigerator can be ar ranged as noted, leaving at least part way across the refrigerator a relatively high space it for storlngof bottles of milk or other beverage, large pieces of meat and the like. in the particular form shown, this space is only shown as extending partly across the bottom of the refrigerator.

Located on hinges i i set between the box wall and the breaker strips near the bottom of the refrigerator compartment, is a plate it, which is of a size to close oft" from the outside the lower portion of the said compartment. Urdinarily this plate will be as high as the high space for bottles, etc. above referred to.

Spring socket plates it or other suitable retain= ing means serving to engage the edge of the plate, in this instance a knob its, and keep it in erect position as shown in Figure 1, will be provided on one or both of the side walls of the refrigerator compartment.

The plate need not be movably mounted in the manner noted, as some other means for removably retaining it in place would serve. However, by articulating the plate at the bottom it can be used as an article supporting tray. To this end one way of arranging the structure will be to place rubber bumpers/i l, it, on the outside of the plate. which bumpers will rest upon the breaker strip when the plate is turned down, and hold the plate in a horizontal position.

The convenience of being able to arrange artlcles on the tray is apparent, but it has particu lar advantages at the bottom of the food compartment because of its use in relieving conges- 55 i compartment in a recess therein, the presence of ment, the tray will act to assist in maintaining a separate current of air in the door compartment. I do not believe that it will be necessary even in hot climates to provide any vent holes in the plate to assist in refrigeration action in the door compartment. Also, if shelves were placed on the inside of a door, rather than in a the plate would assist in setting up a difl'erent current of cold air washing the door from that which moves through the body of the refrigerator.

So far as saving in loss of cold air when opening the door is concerned, it should be noted that the easy way for cold air to get out of the food compartment is at the bottom, and that it is at the bottom where the coldest air is normally found. The plate not only impedes flow of cold air out of the refrigerator which drains the coldest portion of the compartment, but it greatly impedes the loss of cold air from above because of the air currents within and without the box tending to maintain themselves.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Pateat, is:

auavss 1. In a domestic refrigerator having an undivided food compartment, a refrigeration unit in the upper portion of said food compartment and a door for said compartment, a plate hingedly mounted on a horizontal axis at the front portion of the bottom of said food compartment, and means for retaining said plate in an erect position, said plate being of a size to extend substantially across said food compartment and of a height to terminate near but below the lower portion of said refrigeration unit, and means for retaining said plate in horizontal position when said door is open so that said plate may act as a temporary shelf.

2. In a domestic refrigerator having an undivided refrigerated compartment, a refrigeration unit in the upper portion thereof, and a door for said compartment, a plate hingedly mounted on a horizontal axis at the front portion of the bottom of said compartment, means for retaining said plate in an erect position, said plate being of a size to extend substantially across the said food compartment and of a height to terminate near but below the lower portion of the refrigeration unit, means to hold said plate in horizontal position when said door is open so that it may act as a temporary shelf, shelves in said food compartment and shelves on said door, said shelves in said compartment and on said door being so proportioned in length as to leave space for said plate in upright position in said refrigerated compartment when said door is closed.

' ROLAND H. MONEY. 

